Headline says:
[go read it your self at (link)]
[By BILL HENSEL JR.Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle ]
You had better read pretty fast because right now it has pictures.
If it goes away, go to chron.com and search for 'Ideal X shipping.'

The article boasted: "The shipping container (xx?xx yy?yy in my earlier post, nobody guessed the answer) may be a close second to the Internet in the way it has changed the international economy, and in that way, our lives." ibid.

"The Ideal X left the Port of Newark on April 26, 1956, carrying cargo in 58 shipping containers. It docked at the Port of Houston on May 2." ibid.

Today we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the start of using contains for shipping. This put the longshoremen in a higher income tax bracket if somehow they could keep their jobs. Those remaining became highly specialized.

...............................................Picture courtessy of Shwann's

........................'''Once in a lifetime? Travelblog' (link page 4)

....................... very interesting blog (link to travelblog)

Have you seen a container? They look like very large dumpsters, usually they are brown, a dirty red, or yucky green. Unless we live on a waterway, we generally see them being pulled by semis or two of them loaded on a railroad flatcar.

The Port of Houston handled nearly 1.6 million of them last year. In 1995 it was just over 600,000. Houston is running at full capacity right now, but new construction is expected to handle 15 to 20 percent growth annually.

If you care to visit us, we will take you on an inspection boat ride down the Houston Ship Channel. You can see for yourself how these monsters are transported at sea.

From the earlier version of this post: 'For teasers, it will be about today being something celebrating its 50th anniversary today.' Our Chronicle quoted . . .

For some pictures and mor information on containers see Mat Hines page (link).